Jockey Club Gold Cup
Discreet Lover (Repent--Discreet Chat, by Discreet Cat), upset winner of the 2018 GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S. at Belmont Park and earner of nearly $1.5 million, has been retired from racing to stand at Kerry and Leigh Ann Hopper's R Star Stallions in Anderson, Indiana. The 8-year-old will stand for a fee of $2,000, with special considerations for approved mares. Discreet Lover, campaigned by owner Trin-Brook Stables, Inc. and trainer Uriah St. Lewis, is out of an unraced half-sister to millionaire and Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Desert Code...
You have to shake out a lot of grit from the riverbed before you glimpse that glint of gold. John Ropes started panning just about 40 years ago. He had a girl working for him at the time whose father, Andy Smithers, trained in Canada. When Ropes told her that he'd decided to buy a racehorse, she tried to save him. "No," she implored. "I'm telling you, don't do it." Ropes was adamant. He had always loved horses. His parents took him racing as a kid in Miami and, though...
If the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) gets passed by the United States Senate and then signed into federal law, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (NHBPA) could launch a legal challenge against it based on the alleged unconstitutionality of the independently overseen anti-doping, drug testing, and racetrack safety standard programs that the new federal law would create. Leroy Gessmann, who serves as both the NHBPA president and as Arizona HBPA's executive director, told commissioners at the Oct. 8 Arizona Racing Commission (AZRC) meeting that "this thing is...
Lightly raced 'TDN Rising Star' Happy Saver (Super Saver) squeezed inside of favorite Tacitus (Tapit) and out-finished fellow sophomore 'Rising Star' Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) to stay perfect in Saturday's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, a "Win and You're In" qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The Wertheimer homebred broke his maiden by an auspicious 5 1/2 lengths going seven furlongs on the GI Belmont S. undercard here in June, and saw out nine panels when taking a Saratoga allowance July 26. He again displayed his appreciation for a route...
A pair of 'TDN Rising Star' sophomores take on their elders in a five-horse renewal of the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S. Saturday at Belmont, which is a "Win and You're In" event for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Leading the sophomore duo is unbeaten Happy Saver (Super Saver). A dominant debut winner going seven panels at Belmont June 20, the Todd Pletcher pupil dominated a nine-furlong allowance next out at Saratoga July 26. The Wertheimer and Frere homebred made it three-for-three in Laurel's Federico Tesio S. Sept. 7....
Ny Traffic (Cross Traffic) was named likely to make the line-up for Saturday's GI Preakness S. at Pimlico following a four-furlong work in :48 flat (2/88) at Churchill Downs Sunday. "Most likely he's going to go, but tomorrow we'll make the decision," trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. said. "We were very happy with the work." Ny Traffic came up a nose short of Authentic (Into Mischief) when second in the July 18 GI TVG.com Haskell S. Sunday's work was his first since finishing eighth behind that rival in the Sept. 5...
Code of Honor (Noble Mission {GB}) will not be back to defend his title in the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup and will instead make his next start going a mile in the GII Kelso H. at Belmont Oct. 3. "I said all along after the Whitney that I was going to start all over again," trainer Shug McGaughey said. "I thought the Kelso was a good spot to start over again, running him at a mile instead of a mile-and-a-quarter in the Gold Cup after he's been away for...
The New York Racing Association, Inc. has announced race dates for the 27-day Belmont fall meet, including 38 stakes worth $5.58 million in purse money, that will kick off Friday, Sept. 18 and run through Sunday, Nov. 1. Following opening weekend at Belmont, live racing will be conducted Thursday through Sunday with the exception of Columbus Day weekend, when live racing will be offered Monday, Oct. 12 and return Friday, Oct. 16. The Belmont Park fall meet has traditionally opened on the Friday following Labor Day. Due to the continued...
Favorite: Easy Goer (Alydar). Every once in a while a horse comes around that makes you believe that nothing is impossible. They don't just win, they win effortlessly. They don't just run fast, they break track records. They have the perfect pedigree. They're in the right hands. What can they accomplish? What can't they accomplish? That was the way I felt about Easy Goer. After losing his debut by a nose, Easy Goer reeled off four straight wins, including the 1988 GI Champagne S. He would win by four, five...